A Fuzhou Airlines (FU) Boeing 737-800 aircraft (Registration B-1906) had to be grounded after airport firemen sprayed it with foam by mistake.

The plane performing FU6577 bound for Jinan was ready for takeoff at Fuzhou Changle International Airport (FOC) when the crew detected smoke and fire on an Air China (CA) plane waiting nearby and contacted the tower.

The other Boeing 737-800 aircraft (Registration B-5507) performing CA1822 en route from Fuzhou to Beijing aborted takeoff and turned off the right hand engine when the crew of another aircraft alerted the engine was now on fire.

Passengers onboard CA1822 were deplaned, and no one was injured.

Eight fire trucks arrived at the scene in 2 minutes, but mistakenly sprayed the Fuzhou Airlines plane with foam. A few minutes later, the firefighters found the mistake and put the fire on Air China 738 using foam.

Subsequently, the fire-suppressing foam clogged up the jet engines and sensitive turbine blades. Dripping with foam, the aircraft was grounded and forced to undergo a safety check, Fuzhou Airlines said in a statement on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the plane was evacuated and more than a hundred passengers onboard flight FU6577 were being accommodated at hotels and expecting for a replacement flight at 4:50 p.m., but instead faced a nine-hour delay.

The incident caused a 90-munite closure of Fuzhou Airport, which resumed its normal operation at 9:38 a.m. During the period, several flights including HO1107, MU5507 and MU558A were diverted to Xiamen.

Related News:

    Air China Flight's Engine Smoke Disturbs Fuzhou Airport